


14 years later, or "a lamb's legs did climb that mountain, those steps"

by dopekanna



Series: 14 years later, and other stories [1]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: Epistolary, F/F, F/M, Future Fic, Grimsley is related to the Spikemuth siblings, M/M, Not Beta Read, Orlando and Anna are the Hoennshipping kids, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Other Ships Not Mentioned in Tags, Social Media
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-25
Updated: 2021-02-02
Packaged: 2021-03-18 06:08:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 10,843
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28987581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dopekanna/pseuds/dopekanna
Summary: Dawn was a little girl when she saved the world.Years later, she's invited to take part in a new tournament in Galar, and wonders why the children became the heroes.
Relationships: Haruka | May/Yuuki | Brendan, Mary | Marnie/Yuuri | Gloria, Ookido Green | Blue Oak/Red
Series: 14 years later, and other stories [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2147970
Comments: 7
Kudos: 43





	1. 8 april, 2120 // group chat: former champs 2100-2110

**Author's Note:**

> All addresses, phone numbers, and social media accounts presented in this work are fictitious, and any identification with any real life people, places, or buildings is neither intended nor should be inferred.
> 
> Cranked out 80% of this over two days of non-stop writing. This was inspired by a runthrough of the Champion tournament in Sword. Much like you, the reader (probably), Pokemon has been a huge part of my life. The games are all but seared into my psyche and although I think I've finally grown out of my long obsession with the series, it'll always be a part of me. This fic is part celebration of the games that I love, part rumination on what it means to grow up, and part serious examination of what the heck some of these kids went through.
> 
> Ages for reference:  
> May/Brendan - 29  
> Dawn - 25  
> Hilda - 22

The invitation came in the mail on a Monday, a slim but heavy cream envelope with gold filigree lining the edges. It laid between the water bill and the Pokétch quarterly on her kitchen counter for the entire morning and most of the afternoon, until finally, exhausted from work, tea in hand, she picked it out of the pile. She flipped it over, wondering if maybe it was delivered to the wrong address – but written in Galarian script on the center of the envelope:

Dawn Diamond  
7 Twinleaf Town  
Sinnoh 422-2007

A floating weight settled on her shoulder. “Uxi?” it chirped, holding an old letter opener in its tiny gray arms.

“Thanks, Uxie,” she said, walking over to the low table in the other room. She set her tea on the table and took the blade from her Pokémon, slicing open the top of the envelope in a clean, swift swipe. Dawn pulled the sheet from the envelope, and unfolded it.

_Oleana Olive_

_Macro Cosmos  
1 Rose Avenue  
_ _WYNDON  
_ _N11 19W_

_1 September, 2120_

_Dear Ms. Diamond,_

_You are cordially invited to the first Macro Cosmos Inter-Regional Stadium Cup to be held on 1 March 2121 at Wyndon Stadium. The Cup is the latest addition to the World Trainer Series circuit, and for the inaugural event Macro Cosmos is inviting all past and present Pokémon League Gym Leaders, Elite Trainers, and Champions, as well as all past and present Alolan Trial Captains and Kahunas unaffiliated with the League, to take part. Ranking battles will be the League standard singles. Macro Cosmos will reimburse 100% of any travel and board costs for you and your immediate family._

_If you would like to_ _participate in the_ _Cup_ _, please call +44 (020) ZZZZ-ZZZZ_ _no later than 1_ _December_ _21_ _20_ _._ _Our business hours are 09:00-17:00 Galar Standard Time. Macro Cosmos thanks you for your time, and we hope that you will be able to attend._

_Sincerely,_

_Oleana Olive_

_Executive Assistant to the Chairman_

_P.S. Ms. Diamond, Chairman Leon wanted me to let you know that he would be “over the moon” if you were to attend the Cup. He said that watching the broadcast of your battle with Champion Cynthia inspired him to become a professional trainer._

“Dynamax?” she muttered under her breath, reaching over the table for her phone. Images of dark red-purple clouds and giant Pokémon larger than _Dialga_ flashed in her brain, and she scratched Uxie’s chin as thanks. She’d checked out of the competitive circuit completely after she started college in Hearthome, and she hadn’t heard much about Galar’s competitive scene even when she was active.

A few taps on her phone later, she was watching last year’s championship match between a man that looked an awful lot like one of Unova’s Champions wearing a truly bizarre costume and a young girl in a white jersey uniform. They were down to their last Pokémon each, Charizard with the man and a Fire-type Pokémon that reminded Dawn of a Lopunny (the name _Cinderace_ suddenly came to mind). Dawn’s eyes widened as both of the Trainers’ wristbands started to glow. The crowd went nuts as they recalled their Pokemon and the Pokéballs expanded to the size of beach balls. The two Trainers threw them behind themselves, and from them emerged their now massive Pokémon: a variant of Charizard that she’d never seen before, and a giant Cinderace with longer ears riding a fireball the size of Giratina itself.

“What on Earth…” she whispered as the two Pokémon shot flames so large and bright she wondered if it was even safe for the spectators to be there. There was a boom, a crash, a flash of white light, and then finally a silence. The camera shook as the Charizard dropped to one knee, leaning over his Trainer. It shrunk down to its true form, and the man recalled it back into its ball. He pulled the brim of his cap low over his face. The camera zoomed in on him, and Dawn knew the struggle on his face, the twisting of his mouth all too well.

He looked up at the girl and the giant Cinderace, and smiled.

“You two were amazing! That was truly the best battle I’ve ever had! Congratulations, Champion!”

Dawn glanced at the calendar tacked to her wall as the cheers erupted through the tinny phone speaker, and remembered the neverending staircase and the tall steps to meet the lone woman in the Champion’s Room.

**Dawn  
** Did anyone else get the letter from Macro Cosmos?

 **hilda**  
lol yeah  
im goin hbu

 **May  
** Brendan just handed me the envelope  
Is this about the new WTS tournament?

 **Dawn  
** You knew about this already?

 **May  
** Dad’s got a friend who works for MC

 **hilda  
** i see u got that sweet insider info

 **May  
** Yes  
The new chairman is apparently, and I quote, “a battle otaku”

 **hilda  
** oh yeah leon’s such a nerd  
did u know he’s iris’s cousin? Wild  
anyways  
u going may? are the kids coming?

 **May  
** Maybe, if they behave ;)  
Honestly, I don’t know  
It’s been a few years since I’ve battled seriously  
The team’s getting old  
Mightyena just sleeps in front of the TV these days :P  
[mightysleep.png]

 **Dawn  
** [luxraykotatsu.png]

 **hilda  
** [zoroark_bed_thief.png]  
we all have lazy boys  
fr tho u guys should do it!  
i called oleana and she said they’d even take care of hotel stuff  
if u didn’t want to bother with that  
we’ve got like a whole year to get ready  
there’s some good talent coming outta galar rn  
also dynamax is super cool  
godzilla pokémon hell yeah

 **Dawn  
** It certainly looked...raucous.

 **May  
** Orlando and Anna love to watch the matches

 **hilda  
** so ur going  
for the kids of course  
so they can watch their momma stomp on these baby trainers

 **May  
** I…  
Yeah

 **hilda  
** nice  
dawn?

 **Dawn  
** I don’t know  
…  
I guess a break from work would be nice

 **hilda  
** that’s the mesprit


	2. 24 february 2121 // group chat: galar league + friends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More ages:  
> Leon - 26  
> Hop/Bede/Marnie/Gloria - 13  
> Tommy/John - 11

Dawn looked out the taxi cab window, down at Wyndon Stadium below, and thought that whoever named it hadn’t been inclined to poesy. A vibrant glass rose blooming in the center of a city of brown brick and stone and gray clouds, nestled between towers old and new, someone with even the smallest of creative bones in their body could have given it a more elegant name. But perhaps there was more utility in just naming it after the city it flourished in, and more natural to let the people give it its colloquial name.

The streets were fairly clear when the taxi landed, and the hotel lobby was empty when she checked in. No one on the street noticed her, and if the staff did, they were courteous enough to not stare. She sighed in relief as she got on the elevator and rode it to the fifth floor, walked down the hall and opened the door to room 530.

It was a beautiful suite that Oleana had booked for her in the Rose of the Rondelands, all regal reds and pinks and dark woody colors, a picture window in the back of the room with a picture perfect view of the Wyndon Eye. Dawn absently wondered what absurd sum Macro Cosmos was spending out of pocket just on boarding challengers as she rolled her yellow suitcase in. She slipped the white duffel bag off her shoulders and onto the ground, and flopped down face first onto the giant bed with a groan. She’d spent the past 24 hours either in a plane or an airport, covered in the grime of long-distance travel, the kind that came from not being to get a shower, a nap, or a meal more substantial than an overpriced Nanab muffin and coffee.

And yet something in her bones said to go explore the new city, an instinct that time could not let die. She fished out one of her six Pokéballs in the pocket of her red overcoat and opened it. Luxray materialized on the bed as if he’d been lying there all morning, yawning and rolling onto his back the rich red comforter.

“Off the bed, Lulu, you’re getting fur everywhere and I have to sleep there,” she chuckled, and the Luxray rolled off and circled her, nosing his head up into her palms. Dawn pat his head, running her hands through his thick mane, and he purred. “Let’s go for a walk?”

The gray clouds had given way to patches of blue sky and fragments of sunlight by the time Dawn and Luxray walked out the doors to the hotel and out onto the street. The streets were slightly more crowded now, as if the people of the city were drawn out by the rare good weather, but the nip of winter in the air drew scarves to noses and hands into pockets. Luxray circled his trainer, eyeing the Corviknights parked on their roosts in front of the hotel with curiosity and creeping towards them. Dawn patted his side, coaxing him back to the sidewalk.

They walked in silence, past the workers running errands on lunch breaks, the cafes with delightful sweets and pastries in their store fronts that Luxray whined for even though he got to eat the world’s best Poffins every day, the boutiques with clothes that Dawn thought she would’ve loved if she were a few years younger and a few hundred thousand Poké richer, and old, private rowhouses with high brick walls pitted with age. The road wound through the city and gave way to a large cobblestone plaza, a gigantic iron statue of a Corviknight with its wings outstretched right in the center. She felt Luxray wriggle against her, and she gave him an admonishing pat before he could run over and pounce on the statue.

“It’s fake, silly,” she said, walking him over closer to the statue, minding the other tourists posing for pictures. Luxray quietly meowed in embarassment, and she pet his mane to soothe him. Dawn picked a road at random to continue on from the plaza, and found that it was road to the stadium. The glittering pink glass walls were clear even from miles away, and she wondered if they were just as majestic from the inside as they were from where she was now.

The road to the stadium was lined with townhomes on the west and a garden to the right. Luxray strayed from her side to smell the small evergreen shrubs in the garden, and eventually went further into the hedges altogether. Dawn chuckled and followed her Pokémon, watching him prowl through the shrubs for some scent he picked up. They wandered through a hedge maze for some time, Dawn idly following her Pokémon and letting herself get lost. Finally, Luxray led her to the exit, which opened to a small field where two young Trainers were staring down an older Trainer in a denim jacket black sweatpants. In front of him was a Dubwool and a Rillaboom, neither of which looked particularly tired, while the two other trainers were each tending to their own Pokémon, a Ludicolo and a Sinistea. On the opposite end of the pitch from herself, Dawn spied a familiar young lady sitting cross legged on the ground in a black hoodie and ripped jeans, her curly hair cut short, not even reaching past her ears.

“Heeeeey,” Hilda called out, waving her hand. Dawn nodded and crossed the pitch, pulling her scarf over her nose and waving back. Luxray scampered over to Hilda, resting his head in her lap, and the girl obliged him with pets and scritches. “When’d you get in?”

“A few hours ago,” Dawn said, standing over her.

“Ouch, how’s the jet lag?”

“I slept on the plane. When did you arrive?”

“Yesterday! You’ve got to check out their Battle Tower, they have a viewing floor and it is _amazing_ ,” Hilda said, and looked down at the Pokémon in her hands. “Hey you adorable boy, Arceus you’re still so fluffy!” She buried her face into his fur. Luxray looked up at his Trainer completely content, a big fluffy puddle.

“She spoils you, Lulu,” Dawn chuckled, leaning down to scritch behind his ears. “How are your Pokémon?”

Hilda grinned, and she threw a Pokéball up in the air. In a second, Serperior wound around Dawn and Hilda with a shrill roar. It nosed against Dawn’s duffel, trying to open the top zipper with its mouth, and Dawn nudged it away so she could pull out a few Poffins. The large snake devoured them right out of her hand; Luxray whined like he’d been ignored, even though Dawn had fed him more than a few when they were in the hotel, but she sighed and tossed him a few as well.

“Woah! What Pokémon is that?” one of the younger Trainers asked, walking up to the giant snake with his Sinistea floating behind him, and the two other boys and their own Pokémon not far behind. Serperior looked down on them for a moment, and turned its snout up with a haughty sniff. The boy in the denim jacket squawked at the apparent judgment.

“Serperior, the final evolution of the Snivy line,” Dawn said, petting its head, “Legend has it that in Unovan antiquity, Serperior would choose who would become the next monarch.”

“So it’s really strong?” one of the younger boys said.

“Truly a Champion’s Pokémon,” Dawn said, turning to the boys. “I’m sorry, forgive me for my lack of manners. My name’s Dawn, and that’s Luxray. I’m visiting from Sinnoh. What are your names?”

The boy in the denim jacket gaped at her in recognition, while the two younger kids stood straight and looked up at her seriously.

“I’m John! And this is my partner Sinistea! We’re going to be the best Champion ever!” the blond boy said, holding the broken teacup Pokémon in his hands.

“I’m Tommy! This is Ludicolo! And we’re also going to be the Champion!” the brunet boy said, and Ludicolo quacked and danced behind him.

“It’s nice to meet you, John, Sinistea, Tommy, Ludicolo,” she said with a bow, and then she turned to the last boy. “And you are…?”

“I’mhopandthisisdubwoolandrillaboom!” he shouted, “Verynicetomeetyoumadamchampion!”

“Slow down there, my dude, I’m Unovan and I could barely understand you,” Hilda piped up, leaning over from behind Dawn’s legs. Hop looked between Hilda and Serperior, realization dawning on his face, and he became even more panicked.

“Two Champions? _Two?_ ” he squeaked.

“Yeah, two,” Hilda said with a grin, and looked up at Dawn. “How do you feel about an exhibition match for the kids? A little preview for next week, Luxray versus Serperior?”

“Hilda, I have been through four different regions in the past 24 hours,” Dawn whined, tilting her head up to the blue sky. Oh, look, there goes another plane to Arceus-knows-where.

The girl below her put on her best Baby-Doll Eyes. “Please?”

Dawn glanced down at her friend, and sighed, unable to win against that face. “Fiiiine. Come on, Lulu, time to work for your snacks.” Luxray whined, but it wriggled out of Hilda’s grasp and followed Dawn to the far end of the pitch. Hilda got up slowly and ambled over to the other side.

“Hey, mister, who’re those two? You said they were Champions,” John asked Hop, tugging on his jacket. Hop looked at the boy like he had asked why water was wet.

“You see the woman in the red coat?” he said, pointing to Dawn, her Luxray stalking the pitch. “That’s Dawn Diamond, youngest recorded Champion in the Sinnoh League. She beat _the_ Cynthia, a.k.a. the greatest League Champion ever except maybe, you know, _Red_. I used to watch her Championship battle with my brother when I was really little.”

Hop pointed at the other end of the pitch at Hilda, stretching her legs while Serperior sat in regal repose. “And that’s Hilda Black, the second Unovan Champion of 2110. Champion Alder had the title for decades, and then starting in 2110 Unova had _four_ new Champions in _four years._ Even Trainers who become Champions as children usually hold the title until they’re adults, but N was defeated by Hilda Black a few hours after he beat Alder, then a year later Hilda abdicated and appointed Iris, who was then defeated by Nate Kyouhei, who’s the current Unova Champion. The four of them are easily some of the best Trainers in the world!”

“Loser pays for lunch!” Hilda shouted across the pitch, smirking at her opponent.

One of Dawn’s eyebrows twitched. “Suit yourself.”

 **Hop  
** [dawnvshildabattle.mp4]  
we never had a chance

 **Leon  
** Why didn’t you tell me they were there?!

 **Gloria  
** he didn’t deny it lol

 **Hop  
** [scrummy.png]  
Hilda bought us lunch  
she’s the best

 **Bede  
** @Leon I heard a screech down the hall from your office  
Was that you?

 **Marnie  
** LOL  
Uncle Grimsley said she was “a menace to society”

 **Hop  
** he’s not wrong  
she tried to order one of everything on the menu for our teams  
poor lad was trying to take down that order before dawn stopped him  
but hilda’s still the best  
she signed a League card for me too!  
[hildacard.png]

 **Bede  
** [therehegoes.png]  
@Hop turn off your location

 **G** **loria  
** lol  
nerd


	3. 25 february 2121 // Rotogram @official.raihan

Dawn walked down the steps of Hammerlocke, looking out at the rolling hills and dusty cliffs covered under gray skies. Luxray roamed free again today, walking dutifully by her side. Children and teenagers, Gym Challengers and professional Trainers, wandered about in their little groups, and little dots of campgrounds were scattered far into the distance.

It was something Dawn had noticed – the Galarian Gym Challenge was a much more social journey than when she’d completed it. In Sinnoh, she’d been on the road alone with her Pokémon most of the time, meeting up with Lucas or Berry or a random trainer every now and then. Here in Galar, rarely did she see a young Trainer on their own, and even then they easily approached others to ask after something or other. She remembered a girl that had been like that once, but now she was content with wandering the hills and valleys of the Hammerlocke Wild Area on her own.

At the foot of the steps to Hammerlocke City, she pulled up a map on her phone and punched in the coordinates May texted her last night. It was a short walk, maybe half an hour, and Dawn could see a little bit of smoke coming from the lake’s edge where May said she was camping. She followed the smoke, pushing away her urge to check her phone and make sure she was going in the right direction. It had been worse when she had only had a paper map to go off of, stopping every few miles to sit under a tree and map her route. It was like that strange man who lived in Twinleaf said – modern technology was really quite convenient.

Dawn smelled the rich Lavaridge spice blend before she saw the family camped out by the Lake of Outrage. A large green tent was pitched some distance from the lake’s edge, and a woman in a foldable chair was tending to a small campire, a Sandslash curled up beside her. The woman, as if sensing her, looked behind and waved at Dawn, and she shouted something in Hoennese at the man and two children playing near the water.

“Oba-san! Lulu!” the children, one boy and one girl, yelled, running over to Dawn and Luxray. The Pokémon rolled over for belly rubs he knew were bound to come, and which he got when the five-year old boy toddled over to him, moving like a particularly cute Cacturne in his green puffy jacket and sweatpants. He sat down right next to Luxray and started petting him with his mittened hands, and Luxray purred, playfully swatting at the boy. His sister ran into Dawn’s legs for a hug, a golden little marshmallow sticking to Dawn’s red coat.

“Hello, Anna, Orlando, are you enjoying your vacation?” Dawn said, kneeling down to hug the little girl.

“Mama and Papa took us to lots of places! There were so many Wooloo! They go ‘baa’ like Mareep!” Anna said, wonder in her eyes.

“They’re like big clouds! Papa, can Castform make Wooloo clouds?” Orlando asked his father, walking back to him, Luxray following behind him. Brendan chuckled, picking up his son and spinning him around. Anna detached herself from Dawn and ran over, eager to hear another lesson about the world of Pokémon from her papa. Brendan coughed his throat with an a-hem that reminded Dawn so much of old Rowan whenever he tried to impress new Trainers and sat down, pulling his kids into his lap. He waved at Dawn and gave her an apologetic smile, gesturing at the children with a shrug. Dawn nodded, hiding a laugh behind her hand, and he took that as cue to start his impromptu lesson.

“While there isn’t a ‘Wooloo’ cloud per se,” he said slowly, dramatically, “Castform can make any type of weather cloud, like cumulus, which looks a lot like a Wooloo’s wool, and - “

Dawn detached herself from the lecture and walked over to May. The woman was wrapped in a blanket with a traditional Unovan pattern, her boots peeking out from the bottom, lounging in her chair in front of the fire. Her Sandslash was curled up beside her, the Pokémon warming her claws by the fire. It chirped at Dawn and narrowed its eyes in pleasure as Dawn stroked its spines.

“Long time no see,” May drawled.

“Same to you. When did you arrive?”

“Last week. Brendan has a conference in Kalos in two days, and then it’s the Cup, so we just decided to get here early.”

“How are the kids liking it?”

“Like a Zigzagoon with its own tail. They loved the Ferris wheel in Wyndon, now whenever they see one they bug us to go ride it.”

“Sounds like they’d love Nimbasa City.”

May groaned, but smiled. “Please, have mercy on my wallet.”

Dawn looked back at May’s family; Brendan was walking in the grass with Luxray, Orlando and Anna holding onto the fur of the Pokémon as they watched a family of Linoone and Zigzagoon forage for berries.

“I can’t believe they’re almost five already,” Dawn said. “Anna looks so much like you.”

“Me neither,” May groaned. “Time flies, doesn’t it?”

“Yes, it does,” Dawn mused, turning back to the lake surface. Here, there were no caves jutting out from the center, holding ancient deities of humanity, just schools Magikarp and Basculin. May looked up at her through her sunglasses.

“You ready for the Cup?” May asked.

Dawn shrugged. “As ready as I could ever be. I left the League a long time ago.” She glanced down at the woman. “How about you?”

“The Hoenn 4 loved having me around for whipping their Victory Road Trainers into shape,” May cackled, “Steven said they’re the best class he’s ever seen, but I’m really just using them as training fodder for Sandy and the team.” She stroked the spines on the Sandslash at her side.

“There’s a video of your battle with Hilda yesterday making the rounds in the League Trainer chats,” May said, “Lulu looks great.”

“It was a good battle for him.”

“And what about you?” May asked, looking up at her friend. “Was it a good battle for you?”

Dawn was silent. She looked out at the lake, watched the water shift with unseen movement underneath.

“It was fine.”

May pulled out her phone from under the blanket and tapped on its screen a few times, then held it out to Dawn. The video was frozen on a frame of Luxray and Serperior locked in combat. On the right, Hilda was frozen in midair, jumping in excitement, and on the left, Dawn saw herself stood stock still, hands behind her back, her face betraying no emotion, and she remembered a man with bags under his eyes who looked much the same. May tapped on the screen right where Dawn’s face was.

“I know you don’t keep up with comp anymore, but you look like you’re on your way to burnout. Saw it in a bunch of the Victory Road Trainers while I was training myself. What happened?”

“You know what happened on the mountain. Where I went and what I saw. We were only children.”

May pursed her lips. “Yes, we were.” She looked back out to the lake, silent.

“I still dream about that day,” Dawn said, fiddling with the Pokéballs in her coat pocket. “Everything that came after feels fake, unreal, almost. I should want the mundane but it feels _too_ perfect, now that I know what _that_ world is like. I wake up and I ask myself, ‘Is this how he felt? What’s the point? Nothing will ever be like that again.’”

“Not even your Championship battle?”

“You know what I did with the title as soon as I got it.”

May twisted her mouth. “And yet here we are, waiting for another chance to prove ourselves to the world.” She looked up at her friend. “For the record, I don’t think you’ll ever be like him.”

“How do you know?”

“Because you’re asking the question in the first place. You know where the line is.”

**Hammerlocke Gym Leader Raihan  
** official.raihan  
Lake of Outrage

[Image: A group photo of the Birch family, Dawn, and Raihan in front of the Lake of Outrage. May is still sitting in her camping chair, now with a Galarian Zigzagoon napping in her lap. Her Sandslash is curled up next to her, holding a mug of hot chocolate in its claws. Brendan is leaning down, one hand on his wife’s shoulder and the other on his daughter Anna’s head. Anna is next to Sandslah, smiling so wide at the camera that her eyes are closed. Orlando is by his mother’s side, holding another Galarian Zigzagoon in his tiny arms. Dawn is beside Brendan, hands in her pockets, smiling slightly, one hand holding a mug of coffee, the other resting on the back of her Luxray standing at her side. Raihan, tallest of the group by at least a foot, is in the back, waving at the camera. He has a Pokémon egg strapped to his chest in a baby harness. In the background, a Milotic peeks its head out of the lake and is looking right at the camera.]

 **official.raihan** Guess who ran into some ABSOLUTE LEGENDS while on Dragon egg duty today!! Watching May and Dawn on the telly as a wee lad in Ye Olden Days inspired me to be the Trainer that I am today, and it was such an honor to meet them! (also: lulu’s fur is soooooooo fluff dgdsafhfdgfg dawn swears by the Pokémon shampoo and conditioner from @pickapeckofcolors)  
 **hop.no.1** awwwww the kids are so cute, are the zigs theirs?  
 **spikemarnie** May looks very comfy  
 **pickapeckofcolors** Thanks for the shoutout! Our Pokémon shampoo/conditioner bundle comes in five scents (Honey, Oran, Eterna Night, Sunyshore Sunrise, and Gracidea) and we ship to all Pokémon League regions and Orre!  
 **hulberry.nessa** Nice timing with that Milotic! They’re rarely seen at this time of year.  
 **normalnorman** The Birch Zigzagoon curse has been defeated! This ojii-san is so proud of his grandkids :-)  
 **pierstagoon** zig gang rise up (don’t actually join a gang though, stay in school kids)  
 **macrocosmos** Wonderful picture, Raihan! We can’t wait to see you all at the Inter-Regional Cup starting this weekend!  
 **leon** WHY ARE YOU GUYS MEETING MY CHILDHOOD IDOLS WITHOUT ME


	4. 4 march 2121 // @smellyalater on Pidgeotter

“Woah, these guys are not fucking around,” Hilda grumbled at the crowd packed into the stadium all around her, and took a swig of her beer. Dawn sat beside her, a cup of coffee in her hands, and looked down at the field, at the match between May and Lt. Surge. May’s Metagross was wobbling on its four metal feet, but Lt. Surge’s Electrode was unsteady as well, spinning haphazardly.

“Meteor Mash!” May yelled.

“Explosion!”

“Double KO, as he always does,” Dawn mumbled, slouching forward, eyes narrowing as the two Pokemon met in one explosion. Hilda nodded, and both Pokémon dropped to the ground, fainted. May immediately recalled Metagross, pressed a kiss to its Pokéball, and swapped it for her last Pokemon. Sceptile roared as it burst out of its ball, and the crowd went wild.

“Surge typically goes for a traditional Raichu,” Dawn sighed, “And Kantonian Raichus can’t learn any Grass supereffective moves, so May has the type resistance - ”

Surge threw out a Pokéball, and the Pokémon that came out caused Hilda and half the crowd to jump out of her seat.

“SINCE WHEN DO YOU HAVE AN ALOLAN RAICHU, BOB?!” Hilda screamed down at the man on the field, “WHERE WAS THAT WHEN WE WERE IN PASIO?” Dawn pretended to not know the raving madwoman as the rest of the tournament participants from foreign regions they shared their bleacher with turned to her raving friend. The Galarians were too busy screaming down at the field themselves to care about one Unovan woman going ballistic, and Dawn absently remembered that a significant portion of Unova’s people were descended from Galarians. She turned back to the field and took a sip of her coffee.

“Interesting, he goes for the Electric-Psychic dual typing when Sceptile can learn X-Scissor,” she muttered to Hilda, gently tugging her down to her seat by her hoodie sleeve, “But historically he never battles with any unnecessary risks, so he must have something up his sleeve - “

“X-Scissor!” May commanded, and Sceptile dashed forward, arms at the ready to strike.

“Get ready, Raichu!” Surge yelled. The floating Pokemon squeaked as it shot up in the air, dodging the strike. Sceptile skidded to a halt, stopping face to face with Surge’s wrinkling face. The camera zoomed in on them, and everyone could see the grinning white teeth of the old man smiling at the lizard that could snap his head off in one strike.

“Woah, he didn’t even budge!” a Galarian girl in a white and orange uniform yelled, tugging on the red uniform of the elderly man sitting next to her.

“He is a man of indomitable will, a true warrior,” the man replied, nodding like he completely expected this to happen.

The Raichu floated in the air as Sceptile roared at it from below, slinging torrents of razor-sharp leaves up at it, yet Raichu dodged every wave.

“Now! Fly!” Lt. Surge shouted, swinging his arms down. Raichu followed and divebombed the Sceptile, hitting it right in the middle of its body. It flew back to May’s half of the field, dropping to one knee and roaring in pain.

“Sceptile!” May shouted, and out of the corner of her eye Dawn saw Orlando and Anna hold tight to their father, latching onto his arms. The Pokémon staggered up and looked back at its Trainer, nodding in determination. May furrowed her brows, eyes clearly worried for her Pokemon on the screens above, but she nodded back. She crouched and pressed on the wristband.

( _“Every participant from outside of Galar will be loaned a Macro Cosmos Dynamax Band for the duration of the tournament,” Oleana said, pointing to the table covered in bands, “Pokémon are unable to be Mega-Evolved or use Z-Moves while Dynamaxed, but once the Dynamax effect has passed, Pokémon will be able to Mega-Evolve or use Z-Moves as normal.”_

“ _Excuse me, Ms. Oleana,” a dark-skinned boy with green hair asked, raising his hand, “What exactly does Dynamax do? And do we have to use it in our battles?”_

 _Oleana clapped her hands and smiled slightly. “I’m glad you asked. While there is still much research to be done on the Dynamax effect, what we do know is that Dynamax causes your Pokémon to grow tremendously in both size and power for a short period of time._ _We have never observed any ill effects on Dynamaxed Pokémon to date, but if you do observe anything, please let me know immediately._ _Dynamax can only happen at Power Spots, and most Gyms in Galar are built on such locations,_ _as is Wyndon Stadium_ _._ _League rules state that you may only Dynamax one Pokémon once during battle._ _However, Dynamax is never a requirement of battle here in Galar, merely an option_ _if one is in the right location_ _. Our own Spikemuth Gym isn’t on a Power Spot, and Trainers_ _associated with the Gym_ _typically don’t Dynamax their Pokémon_ _at all even when they battle at other_ _G_ _yms_ _.”_

“ _Damn right I don’t,” a lanky man with Zigzagoon_ _hair in front of_ _Dawn_ _grumbled under his breath_ _.)_

Dawn felt the air rumble before she saw the clouds darken above her head. She watched, enraptured, as the crowd screamed louder and louder and May recalled her Sceptile into its ball, watched it expand into a giant glowing Pokéball, and watched her throw it behind her with all her strength. It opened up, and suddenly that same Sceptile was _gigantic_ , its head almost clearing the stadium rim. The cameras on the field zoomed in on Lt. Surge’s face, the man’s grin now wild with excitement. The crowd was cheering, someone was leading them with a whistle like their life depended on it, Hilda was out of her seat shouting for dear life, this was what she was missing -

“Now that’s more like it!” Lt. Surge yelled, pressing on his own band and Dynamaxing his Raichu. The electric rodent floated on its giant tail, its ears easily clearing the stadium. “Max Airstream!”

“Max Flutterby!” May countered, and twin beams of silver air and lime green beams collided in violent explosions in the dead center of the stadium. The crowd screamed, chanted, the music hit harder and harder and vibrated in Dawn’s bones, and then she was 10 again, on top of a mountain facing a madman and his crazed god, and it roared and she saw the past, present, future, overlaid as one -

The smoke cleared, and only one Pokémon remained standing.

“You did good,” someone said, voice amplified through a Rotom mic, and May rubbed the gigantic snout of her beloved starter, the one who’d been there with her from the very beginning. It grumbled as it shrank back to regular size, and she walked over to her beloved starter, gave it a kiss on the head, and returned it to the ball.

“Champion May is unable to battle! Gym Leader Lt. Surge is the winner of this match!” the referee shouted, and applause broke out in the stadium. Dawn glanced at Brendan holding his kids tight, their tiny hands clapping and cheering for their mama on a battle well fought. Her heart was still pounding, wouldn’t stop -

“Woah,” Hilda wheezed, flopping back down onto the bleacher, “Are they all like that?”

“I hope so.”

**I’m Blue** @smellyalater 20m  
damn dawn cleaner than my dish detergent. good battle today, can’t wait for hilda vs dawn!  
[GIF: Dawn stands completely still, hands behind her back, as Empoleon summons a wave of water and washes away Torkoal.]  
[GIF: Empoleon blasts Ninetales with a Hydro Pump, sending it flying towards Kabu. He holds his ground and catches it mid-flight, sending both of them several feet back, but he stays standing]  
[GIF: Staraptor crashes into Gigantamax Centiskorch with a Brave Bird and flies back around to Dawn, preening for her attention. Centiskorch topples, and Kabu recalls it to his Pokéball]  
[GIF: Kabu and Dawn shake hands]

 **Leon Dande** @leon 20m  
You had to be there, this battle was amazing!!!!

 **#1 Kabu Stan** @kabufans 19m  
ik she’s the one who won aginast *the* Cynthia but she didn’t have to wipe my fire grandpa like that

 **bring back trozei** @nincada2 19m  
lmao they didn’t invite red bc he’d just crush everyone like this

 **I’m Blue** @smellyalater 18m  
we are literally getting wasted at the hotel bar  
[IMG: a blurry selfie of Red and Blue Oak and the Kanto League Trainers all around a table at the Rose of the Rondelands hotel restaurant, all in various states of drunkenness. A sober Red and his Pikachu are hiding their faces with menus.]

 **metagross isn’t gross** @mindmeta 18m  
imagine thinking you could check the comeback master himself. the HUBRIS

 **Mitsuru** @heartseal 2m  
Has anyone else noticed that Dawn hasn’t Dynamaxed at all during her matches? What’s up with that? Is she like Piers?

 **Mitsuru** @heartseal 2m  
I don’t think Dynamax is a thing in Sinnoh either but all the other guests are at least trying it? Anyone have any idea? She seems kind of scary tbh

 **fairy types only!** @clefablewishes 2m  
at what point in any of her matches so far did you think she needed to dynamax

 **fairy types only!** @clefablewishes 2m  
you open the urbandictionary entry for ‘fuck around and find out’. it’s her vs cynthia battle from her pov.

 **Mr DJ poffin de replay** @berrybags78 1m  
@heartseal idk how old you are or where you’re from but you should look up ‘Team Galactic Red Chains 2107’ on bulbapedia. that kinda thing changes people

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lt. Surge's French name is Major Bob. Hence, Bob Surge.


	5. 6 march 2121 // Tangelar dashboard, @piplupp

Dawn trudged through the ankle-deep snow of Circhester’s streets, her hands deep in the pockets of her cherry-red coat. Luxray had returned to his ball for this trip, unwilling to deal with the cold until they got to the baths. A few shopkeepers were already setting up their storefronts for the day, and they waved hello at the woman sweeping her way through the Cup they’d been watching on the telly. Dawn waved back, but her heart was not nearly as warm as the smiles these strangers gave her. She’d felt she’d been close to it in her battle yesterday, but even in a picture-perfect city like Circhester, where the streetlights and the sun crawling out from behind the mountains scattered light like honey on the snow and streets, she was closer to the icicles hanging off the rooftops, dangling dangerously and shattering on the ground below.

She walked up the hill and into the baths, the heat welcome and suffocating against her cold, chapped skin. Dawn fished out four of her six Pokéballs from her coat pockets.

“Bath time for you,” she said, tossing the balls and letting her Luxray, Empoleon, Uxie and Lucario out. Empoleon crowed and dove headfirst immediately into the water; Luxray gingerly tested the water with a paw before quietly slinking in. Lucario sat on the stone rim of the huge bath beside her Trainer as Dawn took off her boots and socks and dipped her legs into the water. Uxie floated down into the water, drifting aimlessly but chirping in happiness at the warmth. Dawn allowed herself a small smile at her Pokémon relaxing well; they’d be refreshed for the battle this afternoon against Hilda.

She looked down at her reflection in the water; unstable with the ripples of the water, but unmistakably hers, her long dark blue hair almost touching the water. She hadn’t bothered brushing it this morning, and it felt greasy against her face. The bags under her eyes were more pronounced – it had been another one of those nights when she couldn’t forget, couldn’t sleep. Images of beaches, forests, calm spaces filled her mind suddenly, and Uxie bobbed in the water next to her legs, nudging her calves with its yellow head.

“Thank you,” she said, petting the little guardian. She was always thanking this one. Her other Pokémon slowly gathered close, feeling their Trainer’s exhaustion and uncertainty. Dawn reached over and pet them all one by one. “I’m a little tired, but I’ll be ready for the battle.”

Someone sat down next to her, startling Empoleon and Luxray for a moment, but they quickly calmed down. Dawn glanced up at Red dipping his feet into the water, his jeans rolled up to his knees. He nodded at her, and she nodded back. His Pikachu, lying on his shoulder of his red down jacket, opened one eye, muttered a ‘Pika’ and went back to sleep. A Rotomphone zipped out of his jacket pocket and hovered in front of him.

“Something on your mind, boss?” it asked Red. The man signed to the Rotom and pointed at Dawn.

“Boss asked if you had a nightmare,” the Rotom said to Dawn. She sighed and looked at Red. He also looked tired, but in a different way, the kind of tired that has a drink-a-raw-egg-with-hot-sauce solution.

“Yeah, they come and go. You know why.”

Red nodded and signed to her.

“’You need a day off? I’m here as an organizer this time and I can probably get your match postponed,’” Rotom interpreted.

“No, that’s not necessary, but thank you anyways,” she said, shaking her head, even as the memory flashed back in her mind again -

_Eight badges later, a cold cold mountain, nothing but rocks and snow and the will to live. Her legs tremble in the cold, she should’ve gotten those thermal tights in Snowpoint. Then there is a ruined temple, it is warm, too warm, he binds the god and it cries and roars and the head feels young and the legs shrivel in age, the bone hollows and cracks, but the body is still young and the years rewind and run free. A sick part of her wants to ask for lottery numbers as civilizations she will never live to see die before her eyes and Cyrus the child ages into Cyrus the man into Cyrus the undead tyrant-hopeful . He looks at her with eyes that metaphorically see the world in monotone and the old man in Sunyshore has tears in his eyes when he asks himself where he went wrong with the child. He wants the world to end and he has the power to do so. He has a Crobat, and it loves him._

_He captures a god and it breaks free of the chains and bows to her alone (the thrill of power) . He captures the guardians, and she saves them and they bow to her alone (the thrill of power) . There is another world and a grotesque parody of life , he is defeated by it but she spares it and it nearly kills her (the thrill of power) . When she leaves that non-world without him her stomach empties on sacred ground, she should not be alive, and he will not live, would not have lived in either world. He has a Crobat, and it loves him._

_She climbs down the mountain and leaves something behind, because her hands never stop shivering with cold, with fear, with guilt. He will not live, the adults walk away like they are glad he is gone, her **Champion** walks away, and she is eleven years old in the living room of the small house of the Sunyshore man crying for his grandson, he was a bright boy how did it happen to him. Will she become like him? Is it wrong to want him to have been spared too? He had a Crobat and she could tell it loved him so much - _

The black paw waving in front of her face bops her on the nose with some force and she rears back, almost slipping off the stone, but Lucario catches her with her other arm and growls in apology. Red is watching her, hands ready to ask her to take the day off, but she pulls herself back up.

“I – listen, I...can I ask you a personal question? It’s about Mt. Silver.”

Red hesitated, but he reluctantly signed.

“’What do need to know?’”

“Did you find it? What you were looking for on the mountain?”

Red stared at her for a long time, considering his answer. He slowly signed to her.

“’Not all of it, no. I mourned my loss and went back home after Ethan beat me.’” He smiled at her. “’Most people ask _why_ I went to Mt. Silver in the first place.’”

“I think I already know why.”

His smile dropped. “’Yes, I think you do. We were sacrificial...Wooloo?…offered to gods and monsters, and no one thought we’d come out the other end alive, least of all us.’”

Rotom frowned, turning to Red. “I missed one of those signs. Can you do the one with the scissor fingers again?” He nodded and signed, bringing one arm bent and horizontal to his waist, his other hand holding the index and middle fingers at a right angle parallel to the arm and sweeping the fingers to himself. Rotom grumbled, frustrated.

“That one’zzz not in my dictionary. Can you spell it out?” Red nodded and quickly flashed the letters. “’L-A-M-B’. What’zzz a ‘lamb’?”

Dawn chuckled. “It’s an old word for a juvenile of the common ancestor species of the Mareep and Wooloo lines.”

“Oh, okay. Boss, you talk like an old man,” Rotom accused his owner. Red shrugged and flashed a sheepish grin at the Pokémon, but turned back to Dawn, back to his resting-serious face.

“’Will you come back to the professional circuit after the Cup?’” he asked Dawn, “’You and your team are in great shape.’”

“I don’t know,” Dawn said, stroking the smooth feathers on Empoleon’s back. “Are we really?”

Red rolled his eyes and signed to Rotom.

“Boss wants me to show you something,” it said, floating to Dawn’s eye level. It flipped around, the screen side of the phone facing her, and started a video. The camera was focused on the green Wyndon stadium field, zooming in on her and Empoleon, and panning to her opponent on the other end of the field, a teenage boy in a pink and blue uniform with Wooloo hair. He recalled his Hatterene and Gigantamaxed her, the camera shaking as the cameraman stood up suddenly to get the gigantic Pokémon in the entire shot. It zoomed in on one of the large screens around the stadium, Dawn’s face in crystal clear definition, her eyes alive with determination, and the smallest of smiles on her face.

Hatterene launched three G-Max Smites in a row, pounding Empoleon with a barrage of huge yellow stars, but it didn’t even break a sweat. Without any commands from Dawn, it charged forward and swiped at Hatterene with a Steel Wing, knocking it out with a single strike.

“’You’ve gotten a lot better since the tournament started. It’s so obvious, you love battling. I mean, it’ll never be exactly the same, not really, but was it not worth the journey? To see what comes next?’”

The camera panned to her opponent, the boy holding back tears, but he took a deep inhale and smiled up at the crowd before walking back to his Pokémon, gently petting her hair as he recalled her back to her Pokéball.

**piplupp** reblogged from **leonsstupidcape**

 **perfectlycutscreams  
**[VIDEO: Guzma is recording himself with the selfie camera on his phone. He’s bundled in a black puffy jacket, the bottom half of his face covered with a scarf a color somewhere between mustard and army green. His face is red from the cold.

“Hey numskulls, it’s your boy Guzma! I’m out here in Circhester City making the rounds cuz _someone_ couldn’t be bothered to come here and buy - “

Guzma holds up a shopping bag with a few shoe boxes peeking out the top and shakes it around.

“ - these herself. Plumes, we live in the tropics, what in Lunaala’s name do you need fucking’ brand-name boots for? I get it, the aesthetic comes first, but it was 90 in Ula’Ula yesterday! 90! Do you know what I would do for it to be above 30 right now in _March_? I’m freezing my you-know-what for you and your – wait hold on a sec.”

Guzma taps on the bottom of the screen, and the camera switches. The picture blurs as Guzma straightens the camera and points it to the Hero’s Bath in the center of town. He zooms in on Red and Dawn having a conversation, surrounded by their Pokémon.

“Is that Red? Yoooooo, I used to watch his battles all the time when I’d stay in Pokémon Centers on my island challenge, Kanto was on fire back in the day. Who’s that next to him, Dawn? She’s been stomping on everyone for the whole Cup – what kinda Pokémon is she holding, I don’t think she’s used it in any of the battles.”

The little blob of yellow and gray turns to look at the camera, and Uxie Teleports right in front of Guzma with an amused chirp. Guzma screams.]

our boy back at it again lol

 **greengyrados  
**woah dawn caught uxie :0 isn’t that like a demi-god or something

 **lancearchive  
**Yup! Dawn Diamond is the first ever Trainer to be the registered OT for the entire Sinnoh Lake Trio (Uxie, Azelf, Mesprit). Fun fact: my friend roomed with her for a year when she was doing an exchange program at Hearthome College, apparently they’re just flying hairless Espeons that will always steal your Poffins. _Always_.

 **leonsstupidcape  
** I think it’s important for everyone to remember that this was taken hours before her battle against champion hilda, the battle that gave us this:  
[IMG: Leon, the Galarian league members, and Red and Blue are seated in a private booth near the top of the stadium. Leon has jumped out of his seat, screaming at the pitch, hands raised up in a cheer. A notebook titled “Fantasy Champion Battle Strats #12” is clutched tightly in one of his hands, bending the cover of the notebook. Hop and Gloria are on either side of him, holding their heads in their hands. Down on the field, Dawn and Empoleon stand tall over a fainted Serperior. Hilda has pulled the brim of her cap down over her face.]

also

[IMG: two cropped images of Dawn’s face. The first is take from the Guzma video, her eyes wide in shock. The second is from the Leon picture; here she looks down on the Serperior with no mercy.]

she has the range

40,234 notes

#Pokéleague #wts #mcirsc #champion dawn #champion hilda #champion leon #guzma #red oak #dawn really said piplup supremacy huh #they didn’t even dynamax #AND hilda sent out reshiram! #just some good oldfashioned Pokéslapping #also is it just me or did dawn look like she was having fun

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Red's sign for 'lamb' is supposed to be the actual ASL sign for 'lamb'.


	6. 8 march 2121 // group chat: galar league + friends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> no proofreading we post like night twitter

Dawn  rolled out of bed in her Piplup pattern pajamas,  looked out the window  of her hotel room, saw the crowd of reporters at the doors, and  promptly dragged herself back to bed . Luxray  stretched on the couch  he had claimed and jumped onto the bed, laying down next to her. She pet his head,  and was rewarded with his powerful purrs .

“Fine, just this once, you overgrown Glameow,” she whispered. There was a knock at the door and she groaned internally.

“Whosit?” she whined into her pillow. 

“Room service!” Hilda yelled from the other side of the door. Dawn groaned and crawled out of bed again, opening the door to the unfairly chipper and put-together Hilda. The other Champion held up a Ducklett-printed takeaway bag in each hand.

“How’d you get past the reporters?” Dawn asked with a yawn.

“I used Grimsley-type Substitute. If you listen closely you can hear him being torn to shreds by the Mightyenas outside. He will be sorely missed by his adorable niece and his parole-officer-slash-boyfriend,” she cackled. “Let’s go hang with May, she said we should meet up before we leave tomorrow.”

“Mmm, it’s cold out though,” Dawn said. Sinnoh was cold but she couldn’t ever get into the camper lifestyle that the Birches seemingly picked up overnight.

“Reshi’s Flying.”

“Give me a minute to get some clothes,” Dawn whined, shutting the door. Two minutes, Luxray was back in his Pokéball and Dawn was mostly ready to meet the day. The two former Champions climbed the stairs to the roof of the hotel, and Hilda opened a Pokéball. The shadow of a huge white dragon overtook them, and Reshiram hovered above them, leaning down to nuzzle Hilda. 

“Feeling better?” Dawn asked the Legendary. Reshiram barked at her.

“’Yes, thank you. Yesterday’s battle was very invigorating. I hope your team is doing well’,” May translated. “Could you take us to the Lake of Outrage, please?” Reshiram nodded its huge head and Hilda and Dawn climbed onto its neck, holding onto each other. It rose and soared over the clouds, blasting south to distant Hammerlocke.

“You looked a lot better than when you first got here,” Hilda said into her ear as they flew through the air. “Like you were all gloomy and depressed at the start, and like I get it, no dice, we’ve been through some shit and need some therapy, but I was really glad to see you happier.”

“Thanks. Seeing the new generation, it’s put a lot into perspective,” Dawn said, looking down at the wintry forests giving way to canyons below. “I can’t believe the Cup’s almost over.”

“Me too! It was like yesterday when we got that invite, you know? Now you’re going to face that cute Galar Champion tomorrow,” she sighed, leaning back onto Reshiram’s fur. “Time flies for us, human and Pokémon.”

“No, it doesn’t, but it’s truly blissful ignorance to not know otherwise. Better to grow with time than not,” Dawn said, fingering the Master Ball in her pocket. “That was his flaw. He couldn’t grow and didn’t want others to, rejecting the gifts of Uxie, Azelf, and Mesprit. He wanted the world to stagnate. No past, no present, no future.”

“But you saved the world.”

“But we, the children, saved the world.”

“Man, I just had to fight the fascists, not the existential philosophical stuff you had to deal with,” Hilda whined, “Let’s try to make the world better one step at a time, yeah? So we can stop sending 11-year-olds to face angry Legendaries. No offense, Reshi.”

The dragon barked, and slowly descended towards the lake.

“Hullo,” Gloria and Marnie said in tandem, waving at Dawn, Hilda, and Reshiram from their camping chairs by the fire next to May. All were wrapped in thick blankets and holding cups of spicy Tapu Cocoa in their hands. Dawn looked at May, who shrugged.

“Ain’t my fault Lavaridge spice smells good,” she reasoned as she got up to grab two more blankets from the tent. “Hilda, you _didn’t_ , all those Ducklett Donuts for me?”

The Unovan Champion cradled her bags closer to herself in mock horror. “You’re such a Munchlax, mooching off all my superior Unovan-type treats! I demand equal payment for my goods!”

Reshiram laid down on the ground, circling his head around Hilda and inching closer to the dying fire. He sniffed, and the embers blazed into a proper fire again. Dawn sat down and leaned against his fluffy wing, easing one of Hilda’s bags from her friend’s fingers. She picked out a cake donut from the bag and passed it to May, trading it for two blankets, one Corsola-pink and one Wailmer-blue. Dawn took the pink blanket and passed the other to Hilda.

“Breakfast, ladies?” May said, holding the bag out to the two teenagers. Gloria took the bag and rifled through it, Marnie leaning over and looking over her shoulder in curiosity.

“Oh my Arceus, I remember being that tiny and cute,” Hilda squealed, watching the two girls choose their donuts. She wrapped herself in her blanket and sat down, leaning against Dawn and Reshiram, wiping a fake tear from her eye.

“Hilda, not a single person here is over the age of 30,” Dawn deadpanned in between bites of donut, “Eat your breakfast.”

May looked at her two friends, snuggled warm against Reshiram, and at the two young Galar Trainers. Marnie had picked out a donut with strawberry icing and sprinkles, tearing it in half to share with her Morpeko nestled in her blanket, while Gloria was having a hard time deciding between a cream-filled and a jelly-filled donut, looking between one and the other with intense concentration.

“Go with the jelly, dear,” she told Gloria.

“Objection, Ducklett’s cream filled donuts are better!” Hilda claimed. Gloria looked between the two Champions, confused and a little panicked and looked right at Dawn, expecting an answer.

“Glazed goes better with the hot chocolate,” Dawn said, much to her friend’s chagrined squawks. Gloria laughed and swapped the two for a cake donut, dunking it into her mug of Tapu cocoa.

“Cheers, Ms. Diamond,” the young Champion said.

“Dawn is fine,” she chuckled, taking another bite of donut. “How was the Cup for you two?”

“Knocked out right at the start by that Fighting specialist chap from Hoenn,” Marnie sighed, “Why’d they put me against my type weakness right at the start? But I learned a lot watchin’ your matches. I’m goin’ to use all that info to make my Gym be’er.”

“Leon would _not_ shut up about the Cup,” Gloria whined, “I mean, he’s the chap running it, so I guess it made sense he’d be talking about it, but whenever you saw him he’d try to drag you into some conversation about bracket predictions and what teams would be used and the history of one move that one lad’s Pokemon used and he wouldn’t let you go until Ms. Oleana dragged him away to actually do his job. Honestly, I think he just did all this so he could make his fantasy League for real.”

May eyed Dawn and Hilda. “Like I said, battle otaku.”

“Battle otaku,” Dawn confirmed.

“But most important question, ladies: did we have fun?” Hilda asked.

“Definitely,” May said with a grin, and Marnie nodded with her.

“It was good to get back in stride,” Dawn admitted, “And I must confess that it was fun breaking everyone’s brackets.”

“I don’t know why people didn’t expect you to get far!” Gloria said, “You’re an amazing Trainer, I...I don’t get it.” She curled up closer to herself, and took a sip of cocoa. “You did so much when you were my age, and I-”

“Saved Galar. You saved us, Glo, don’ beat yourself up,” Marnie said, setting down her food and holding Marnie’s hands. Dawn’s eyes narrowed – she’d heard about the Darkest Day incident, the sudden restructuring of Macro Cosmos, but they didn’t have a heavy foothold in the Sinnoh economy so it was all rather lackluster reporting by the time it made it to her corner of the world

“Tell us what happened,” Dawn said, and the two Galar girls told them about a company that saw the future and a man who tried to fix it all in the worst possible way, Gym Leaders who tried their best to stop the situation before it got out of hand (“don’t worry, we adults’ve got this, so just go on with your Gym Challenge”), until it got _exceptionally_ out of hand and Gloria raised her shield against an ever-devouring apocalypse monster and made it bow down to her, a child (the thrill of power). The man had gone to prison, the company was changing, Galar was saved, but now it all -

“Doesn’t feel real?” May asked.

“Like you’ve stepped out of a fairytale?” Hilda asked.

“Are you afraid that you might grow up to be like him?” Dawn asked. Gloria nodded, hands entwined with Marnie’s and putting on a brave face. The three women looked at each other.

“I stopped two complete imbeciles from permanently making Hoenn an inhospitable hellscape.”

“I saved the god of time from a man who would have ended the world so we could all feel as he could not.”

“I beat the assholes that were manipulating the sweetest guy I’ve ever met to steal my best friends from me.”

“You’re not alone,” Dawn said, “We did what we had to in order to live, to protect our friends, our families, our homes, even if we were – and frankly, still _are_ – too young to process it all. The only difference is each of us have at least a decade more experience dealing with the fallout.”

“Pro tip, don’t waste two years trying to look for the guy you had to kick the crap out of after he goes missing, because he’ll just, like, show up at your house on his own and confuse the hell out of your mom after another Champion beats his dad up,” Hilda chimed in.

“Make the League pay for your college degree that you’re getting to understand just exactly why the guys you had to defeat thought the world was going to end unless they did something drastic,” May added.

Dawn sighed. “I was trying to be serious.”

“I _am_ serious!” May and Hilda said at the same time.

“Marnie, are we going to be like them when we grow up?” Gloria asked the girl quietly, watching the women bicker with Dawn over “tone” and “setting an example” and “I have kids, Dawn, I know what I’m doing” but Marnie just smiled and swiped another donut from the bag between them.

“I don’t mind if we do.”

**Gloria  
** champions’ cocoa!  
ingredients:  
¼ cup tapu cocoa  
1 tsp lavaridge spice  
1 cup moomoo milk  
champion mom/aunt/older sis vibes

directions:  
pour cocoa in mug  
heat milk until hot and pour into mug  
stir and serve  
best served with ducklett donuts or krispy klefkis  
man you guys missed out  
[secretsocietyblanket.png]  
soooooo comfy  
they had a lot of good life advice  
after they stopped arguing lol

**Hop  
** I was busy :(

**Kabu  
** I can order Lavaridge spice  from Hoenn  if you would like, @Gloria  
The supermarkets here charge too much for  it and the site that I buy from is in Hoennese.

**Gloria  
**!!!  
thank u kabu!

**Raihan  
** hey that reminds me leon did you get that league card signed

**Leon  
**...huh?

**Raihan  
** you know  
the first edition trainer dawn card from like 2106  
the super rare one?  
the card you would not stop bragging about

**Leon  
** SHITE I FORGOT


	7. 9 march 2121 // Rotogram @leon

The tunnel to the pitch was empty, the muffled cheers of the crowd echoing around her ears. Luxray was by her side one last time before the final match of the Cup, circling her anxiously. She ruffled his mane, letting the soft fur ground her, before recalling him and walking onto the field. The crowd cheered in excitement, shouts of “Dawn” and “Ice Queen” blending into unintelligible noise. From the other tunnel, a figure in a black and white jersey jogged out, and young Champion Gloria waved at the ecstatic crowd. She skidded to a stop on the other side of the center line, smiling and eyes full of fire.

“Are you ready?” Dawn chuckled.

Gloria nodded. “You bet.”

Dawn looked around at the tens of thousands of people and Pokemon packed into the stadium, the music bumping and beating, the hearts of the crowd blending and overwhelming, and the will of the Pokémon leaning against their containers in her pockets - one in particular straining to be heard.

Dawn held out her hand, and Gloria shook it, her grasp firm. The crowd hushed as the two Trainers walked to their ends of the field, drawing Pokéballs. Gloria tossed hers out first, and the crowd yelled as Zamazenta leaped out with a howl. Dawn looked down at the purple and white ball in her hands, the same heavy weight as she had held fourteen years ago on top of a ruined mountain.

“It is time,” she whispered.

She tossed the ball, and the crowd screamed as a monster, a _god_ stretched its colossal neck upwards and roared. Gloria’s face paled at the sight of the Temporal Pokémon, the oppressive pressure of something vastly ancient and alive pressing down on her, and she stared across the field at her opponent.

Dawn let her hands go from behind her billowing red coat. She pointed at Gloria and smiled with everything she had, her eyes alive and proud, eyes that had seen too much and not enough. Eyes that reflected the determination of the greatest Trainers everywhere.

“Let’s give it everything we’ve got, Dialga!” she screamed.

**Leon Dande  
** leon  
Battle Tower Wyndon

[IMG: an old, worn copy of Trainer Dawn’s League Card dated to 2106 is lying face up on top on a modern wood office desk. Dawn is smiling widely and pointing at the camera, Piplup bundled in her free arm. Under her name in print on the card, a fresh signature in neon blue ink reads “Dawn Diamond”. Underneath the League Card is a partial obscured set of photos, the kinds you take in sets of 4 in a mall photo booth. Dawn, May, Hilda, Leon, Oleana, Hop, Gloria, Marnie, and Bede are all smushed into the booth; every is smiling widely at the camera except for Dawn, who is blushing and frazzled at the close contact with everyone, and Oleana, who looks extremely tired with their antics but is nonetheless grinning ever so slightly.]

 **leon** YES!


End file.
